Character Battle IX: Labyrinth of the Nine
by Ashzen
Summary: A fanfiction based on the Gamefaqs contest "Character Battle IX". We've taken several liberties with this fic, and will only be influenced by the results of the character battle, rather than being 100% based on the results. 243 characters find themselves stuck in a strange labyrinth with no way out. Will any of them make it out alive? Or will they all share the same fate?


**Episode 1: The Pilot**

Commander Shepard awoke slowly. She was in an unfamiliar bed. It was much too hard to be her bed back on the Normandy. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in what looked to be a hotel room. Retro, from the looks of it. Red Velvet Carpeting on the floor with ivory white walls. There were pictures of things that she didn't recognize hanging across from her - a beautiful young woman with a sceptre in her hand walking on water, a silver haired young man in a school uniform holding up a tarot card, and a young woman praying. She neither recognized any of the faces, nor the locations in the portraits. She could also see three identical beds in the room, but they were all empty. "_What happened"_ she thought to herself as she sat up in bed. She slowly placed her feet on the floor, and stood up. She was wearing her crewman's outfit. She still had her omnitool and her side pistol, but nothing else. She checked the drawers for any of her equipment, but there was nothing there. Either whoever was in the room with her had taken it, or she was brought here without it. Shepard drew her gun and walked slowly toward the door. She opened it, not knowing what to expect. All she found was a hallway, like any other. There were more pictures on the wall that she didn't recognize. "Where the hell am I?" she whispered to herself. She was on alert. She couldn't remember coming here willingly. She wasn't even sure where 'here' was.

The hallway was dimly lit. The carpets were kept perfectly clean. And the walls... the walls with the pictures of strange people. Shepard had a bad feeling about it all. "Hello?" she called out. "Is anybody here?"

There was no answer. In fact there was nothing going on. There were other rooms - presumably other guests of this strange hotel. But their doors were locked tightly, and if they had heard her, they weren't answering. "This isn't good..." she said to herself.

She continued down the hallway, counting the doors as she went so that she could remember the location of her room. She passed eight doors before coming to a staircase. She threw caution to the wind, and walked down the stairs. She encountered nothing on the way down. On the floor below, was an identical hallway to the one above it. She called out again. "Hello? Can anybody hear me?"

This time there was an answer.

"Shepard?!" called a familiar voice. Finally, something she recognized.

"Wrex!" Shepard called out. She'd know the Krogan's voice anywhere. The two of them had fought a rogue SPECTRE together. And that's not something you forget easily.

"Shepard!" said Wrex again, this time coming into view.

"Wrex!" said Shepard. "It's good to see you!"

Urdnot Wrex laughed. "It's always good to see a friendly face."

Shepard and Wrex shook hands, happy to see one another. "Do you know how we got here?" asked Shepard.

"Afraid not." said Wrex.

"Do you think it could be the Reapers?" asked Shepard.

Wrex laughed. "I hope so. I haven't killed anyone since I got here."

Shepard shook her head. "You never change."

Wrex smiled. "Nor do you. Always getting pulled into another mess that I have to get you out of."

Shepard laughed. "If I remember correctly, it's usually me that's getting shot at."

"Yeah, you get to have all the fun." said Wrex.

"You run into anyone else here?" asked Shepard.

Wrex nodded. "Nobody we know though. Some humans. They all look the same to me though. Sounded like the Salarian might be here though."

"Mordin's here?" asked Shepard.

Wrex shrugged. "I don't know. But it sounded like him. They said he wouldn't shut up. He wanted to study the lightbulbs or something."

"Sounds like Mordin." said Shepard. "No sign of Tali or Garrus?"

Wrex shook his head. "Don't know if they're here or not. If they are, we'll find them. The Krogan always end up digging the Turians out of trouble."

"Alright, lets get out of here. We'll look for them on the way out. Once we're out, we can see if we can get a hold of everyone. If not, we'll come back." said Shepard.

"Wait." said Wrex. "You should know, Shepard. This place changes."

Shepard looked at Wrex, confused. Changes? What did he mean by that? How did it change?

"It'll be quicker to show you." said Wrex. "Do you remember where your room was?"

Shepard nodded. "Up the stairs, ninth door on the left."

"Let's go then." said Wrex.

Shepard followed Wrex back up the stairs, and past the eight doors that she had passed on her way to him. She then opened the door to her room, and found - it was no longer there.

"What the...hell?" said Shepard. What had been her room, was now a garden full of beautiful blossoming flowers. Violets and Daisies, and all sorts.

"No room stays the same for long. I learned that the hard way." said Wrex.

It seemed that getting out of this place was going to be more difficult than she thought. "It never can be as easy as 'shoot at it until it dies' can it?" said Shepard.

Wrex smiled. "No, but I like the way you think."

The two walked through the garden on guard. They weren't sure what might be here trying to kill them. "You know, Garrus would love this." said Shepard.

"What? Being stuck in a strange place not knowing how to get out?" asked Wrex.

Shepard shook her head. "Anyway, we need to set up a base of operations. Establish communication. Then we can find our way out. It won't be easy if everything constantly changes. We need to find other people who are stuck here. If we can work together, then we can find a way out."

They weren't sure how far the garden went. But as large as it seemed, the entire building had to be larger than a reaper. Maybe even bigger than a city. The way the architecture changed made it impossible to tell just who built it. At times it seemed human-made, and at others alien. The Garden had flowers that they recognized - but also some that they didn't. The best that Shepard could tell, it was a collaborative effort by multiple races.

They had walked about a mile before reaching the other side of the garden. The gate on this side looked different from the one they had came through - it was a large wooden gate. Before they reached it, the gate opened from the other side. A blonde woman with short hair entered. She had a gun drawn on the two of them.

"Who're you?" asked the woman.

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. And this is Urdnot Wrex. Who are you?"

"The Boss, Cobra Unit." the woman said, her gun still trained on Wrex. "Did you bring me here?"

Shepard shook her head. "No. Just relax. We're in the same position as you. We need to work together-"

The Boss still didn't lower her guard. "How do I know I can trust you."

"Because we haven't killed you yet." said Wrex with a smile on his face.

"I doubt that you could."

"You have no idea who you're messing with, do you lady?" said Wrex. "I'm Urdnot Wrex, Krogan Warlord. I took down a Thresher Maw on foot by myself. And this is Commander Shepard, and if there's anything I can't kill - she can."

"Relax, Wrex." said Shepard. "We're not here to harm you, Boss. We're just looking for a way out of here. Like I was saying..."

"And as I said - I don't know you."

Commander Shepard eyed The Boss, and then kicked the gun out of her hand. Shepard then grabbed The Boss by her arm, and twisted it backwards. The Boss twisted her arm out of the clutches of Shepard, and grabbed Shepard's arm. Shepard elbowed The Boss, and then headbutted her - knocking her to the ground. Shepard then placed her foot over The Boss's chest.

"Like Wrex said, if we wanted to kill you - we would have."

The Boss rolled out from underneath Shepard's foot. "You can fight, I'll give you that." she said.

"You too." said Shepard. "It'll be better if we work together. This place changes - we need to set up a base of operations and try to find anybody else who's stranded here."

"Alright, we can work together. For now." said The Boss.

Wrex shook his head as they walked out of the garden. "If all the human females are like Shepard and that one... then Krogan Women could learn a thing or two."


End file.
